Eurobarometer 82.2 (2014)

Since the early 1970s the European Commission´s Standard & Special Eurobarometer are regularly monitoring the public opinion in the European Union member countries. Principal investigators are the Directorate-General Communication and on occasion other departments of the European Commission or the European Parliament. Over time, candidate and accession countries were included in the Standard Eurobarometer Series. Selected questions or modules may not have been surveyed in each sample. Please consult the basic questionnaire for more information on country filter instructions or other questionnaire routing filters. In this study the following modules are included: 1. Quality of transport, 2. Cyber security, 3. Public perception of Value Added Tax, 4. Public health: patient rights, 5. Public health: blood, cell and tissue donations.<br>Topics: 1. Quality of transport: most often used mode of transport and reasons for using; preconditions for using public transport more often; number of journeys of 300 km or more within the EU (including the own country) in the last twelve months; used mode of transport and reasons for using; applicability of the following characteristics to the last journey: reasonable price, no delay, enough amenities for passengers, safe; development of the quality of selected means of transport in the last five years in the own country: air transport, rail transport, road transport, sea or river transport; most serious problems with regard to rail transport and air transport in the own country; importance to take liquids above the current limit on board; most serious problems with regard to sea or river transport in the own country; most serious problems with regard to road transport in the own country; prioritized measures for improving road safety in the own country; desire to have own vehicle connected in order to improve traffic management and make journeys easier and safer: at all times, at all times but only if personal data is anonymized, only on personal case-by-case decision, no; prioritized measures to increase attractiveness of transport sector for job seekers; frequency of traveling by commercial ship or boat and most frequent purposes; importance of each the following elements when planning a journey by ship or by boat: price, timetable, amenities on board, shipping line, published safety records, availability of destinations at closest port, available connections, quality of ships and boats; assessment of the safety of each of the following ships or boats: cruise ships, ships used for daily commuting, ferries for vehicles and passengers, small ships for sightseeing and excursions, sailing ships; factors that would increase respondent’s confidence in the shipping line while being aboard a ship.

2. Cyber security: self-rated knowledge about the risks of cybercrime; devices used to access the internet; frequency of the following online activities: banking, buy goods or services, sell goods or services, use social networks, email, read news, play games, watch TV; attitudes towards online banking and online shopping: preference for conducting transactions in person, concerns with regard to the security of online payments, concerns with regard to the misuse of personal data, concerns with regard to not receiving bought goods or services; changes in the way of internet use due to security issues; measures taken in the own household to protect children under 16 years from online harassment; concern about becoming a victim of each of the following types of cyber criminal activities: identity theft, receiving emails or phone calls asking for personal data, online fraud, encountering child pornography, encountering material promoting racial hatred or religious extremism, denial of access to online services, personal social media or email account being hacked, bank card or online banking fraud, being asked for a payment in return for getting back control over personal device, malicious software on personal device; frequency of having experienced the aforementioned situations; authorities to contact in each of the aforementioned situations: police, website or vendor, internet service provider, consumer protection organisation; attitude towards selected statements: concern about online personal information not being kept secure by websites, concern about online personal information not being kept secure by public authorities, avoidance of disclosing personal information online, increase of the risk of becoming a victim of cybercrime, appropriate ability of the respondent to protect himself / herself; change of password of the following online services during the last twelve months: email account, social networks, shopping websites, banking websites, games, public services websites.

3. Public perception of Value Added Tax (VAT): knowledge of the standard VAT rate in the own country (in percent); importance of VAT as a revenue source for the national public budget; level of national VAT rate compared to other EU member states; awareness of the reduced VAT rate in the own country for certain goods or services; significance of the impact of the reduced VAT for the national public budget; preferred statement regarding reduced VAT rates: should continue unchanged, should be abolished and be replaced by annual fixed cash allowances for every household, should be abolished and be replaced by annual fixed cash allowances for poorer households, should be abolished and the standard VAT rate on all goods and services should be lowered; online purchase of goods and services for private purposes in the last twelve months from sellers located: in the own country, in other EU countries, outside the EU, location unknown; activities in the last twelve months: shopping trip to another EU member state, purchase of goods or services while on holiday or on a business trip; purchase of at least one good or service from another EU member state for any of the following reasons: lower prices than in the own country, better quality than in the own country, bigger choice than in the own country.

4. Public health / Patient rights: self-rated knowledge about the reimbursability of healthcare services: in the own country, in another EU country; preferred sources of information on the reimbursability of healthcare services in another EU country; desired information: rights to receive healthcare in general, level of reimbursement, quality standards, reputation of healthcare providers, opinions of other patients, waiting times, information on healthcare providers; knowledge test on healthcare in another EU country: right to receive medical treatment and get reimbursed by national health authority or healthcare insurance, no possibility to use national prescriptions, right to receive a copy of medical record; necessity for prior authorization from national health authority or healthcare insurance to obtain medical treatment in another EU country: for all kinds of treatment, only for hospital care, only for highly specialized healthcare; medical treatment in another EU country in the last twelve months: unplanned, planned; problems regarding the reimbursement of the last treatment; willingness to travel to another EU country to receive medical treatment: depends on the country, depends on the type of treatment; reasons for traveling to another EU country to receive medical treatment: less waiting time, cheaper, better quality, renowned specialist, treatment not available in own country; preferred kinds of treatment: diagnostic treatment, dental treatment, hip replacement, treatment for kidney stones, knee prostheses, hernia repair, heart surgery, cancer treatment, cataract treatment; reasons for not traveling to another EU country to receive medical treatment: satisfied with treatments in the own country, more convenient to be treated near one’s home, lack of information regarding availability and quality of treatments abroad, language issues, not affordable, unawareness of own rights in case of problems, lack of information on patient safety and quality of care, uncertainty of reimbursement; awareness of a national contact point in each member state providing information on cross-border healthcare inside the EU; personal contact to a national contact point: in the own country, in other EU member states.

5. Public health / Blood, cell and tissue donations: donations of blood, plasma, bone marrow, umbilical cord blood, sperm, and eggs: donation and willingness to donate in the future, donation and no willingness to donate in the future, no donation to date but willingness to donate, no donation to date and no willingness; willingness to donate the following tissues after death: bone, skin, parts of the eye, heart valves or blood vessels; reasons for willingness; actions taken to make known own willingness to donate: discussions with relatives or friends, posted intentions on online social network, registration on a public register for donors of organs, tissues, and cells after death, registration on a register for bone marrow donors; attitude towards selected recompenses for donating blood or plasma: refreshments, physical check-up, testing, medical treatments, non-cash-items, reimbursement of travel costs, additional cash amounts, time off work for the time needed for donation and recovery; attitude towards selected recompenses for donating other body substances: refreshments, physical check-up, testing, medical treatments (except fertility treatments), free or less expensive fertility treatments, non-cash-items, reimbursement of travel costs, additional cash amounts, time off work for the time needed for donation and recovery, depends on type of body substance; acceptance to be treated with one of the aforementioned substances coming from donation; assessment of the safety of blood transfusion and cell or tissue transplantation in the own country for recipients; biggest concerns in case of being treated with donated blood, cells, or tissues: opposition to religious belief, medical complications, risk of contracting diseases, lack of treatment effectiveness, medical errors, paid donor, donation from another EU member state, donation from outside the EU; acquainted person having received one of the aforementioned donated substances; prioritized areas of EU legislation for blood transfusion and cell and tissue transplantation: substance safety and quality, substance availability, donor protection, information of patients, safety and quality of substances imported from outside the EU, development of initiatives to increase donation, development of policies to ensure the medical necessity of using donated substances.

Demography: nationality; left-right self-placement; marital status; age at end of education; sex; age; occupation; professional position; type of community; household composition and household size; own a mobile phone and fixed (landline) phone; possession of durable goods (entertainment electronics, internet connection, possession of a car, a flat/a house have finished paying for or still paying for); financial difficulties during the last year; self-rated social position (scale); internet use (at home, at work, at school); self-reported belonging to the working class, the middle class or the upper class of society; life satisfaction; frequency of discussions about political matters on national, European, and local level; own voice counts in the own country and in the EU; general direction things are going in the own country and in the EU.

Additionally coded was: respondent ID; country; date of interview; time of the beginning of the interview; duration of the interview; number of persons present during the interview; respondent cooperation; size of locality; region; language of the interview; nation group; weighting factor.